For a lot of this year, defenses have seemed to premise their defense against Bryant on not letting Marc O’Rourke beat them. So far this year, he’s had 5 different games where he’s taken less than 8 shots. And it seems to have worked to an extent; the Bulldogs’ offensive efficiency is down a bit this year.

He must have enjoyed Saturday’s game. The 21 shots he took was nearly as many as he’d taken in his previous 4 games. And the 9 goals set a career (and program) record. But it wasn’t just a volume thing. The 43% shooting mark was a season-high as well.

Tarry has been an efficiency darling all season. Here’s where he rates among the highest usage Patriot League players.

Coppola won 21 faceoffs against Providence, had a 64% win rate, and earned a 7.09 composite EGA mark, which measures production and efficiency. He had 17 faceoff wins (65% win rate) against Denver and earned a 3.99 cEGA mark. The difference? Devittes.

Against Providence, he scored 2 points and had zero turnovers. Against Denver, he didn’t have a point and he did commit a turnover. It’s not just about faceoff wins anymore

Against Cornell, the Black Knights’ offense scored on 38% of their possessions. The offensive explosion, combined with a defense that allowed just 10 goals, gave Army the boost they needed to become a legitimate at-large contender.

But don’t overlook the +12 possession margin that Coletti helped them achieve. Consider this, the offense also scored on 38% of their possessions, but that was just a 2-goal victory in part because the Greyhounds had a small possession advantage. 38% on offense is a lot more valuable when you are also getting fed possessions. As of today, Coletti is the 34th ranked FOGO in the faceoff Elo ratings.

I have to think the hardest thing for a coaching staff to do is get the mix right. How do you create a system where every player is in a role that maximizes their talents? Put too much on a guy’s shoulders and efficiency goes down. Don’t give a talented guy enough opportunity and you leave goals on the field. Screw it up ego-wise and you’ve got bitter players. It’s a hard challenge.

Feels like Air Force is circling the right mix though. Against CSU, Dodd took 15 shots, scored 7 goals, and had his most efficient game of the year. Against Detroit, he took 20 shots, scored 5 goals, had 3 turnovers, and was just so-so on the efficiency scale. The 8 points (CSU) vs 7 points (Detroit) masks how much better he played against the Vikings.

So far this year, Piatelli has taken 25.4% of the Big Red’s shots. And he’s been as close to a bell-weather for this team as anyone.

Against VMI, Intrieri was the guy for Jacksonville; he’s been the third option this year, generating a team-high 22% of the JU assists. But in this one, he was numero uno; his 6.8% play share set a career high as did his advanced metrics.

But it hasn’t just been this game. The first-year Dolphin has had an impressive season on my fronts.

When Duke had to have it, Brennan O’Neill had his 2nd most efficient game of the year. As of right now, Duke is still in pretty good shape to get a bid to the tournament. Win one of their final two and, barring bid thieves, their RPI and SOR should be high enough.

As for the big win over UVA, it was just Brennan O’Neill’s 11th highest usage-rate of the year. That is less about his usage and more about how balanced the Duke attack was. It didn’t need to be a super-human effort from 34 because

Ramsey is currently 30th in the faceoff Elo ratings. In a game where Yale struggled in many ways, he was a bright spot.

Safe to say that it would have been much worse had he not won as many faceoffs as he did.

What a game! Comeback of the week in men’s lacrosse definitely goes to the Saints.